Search - Enescu, Mandeal, Bucharest Phil Orch :: Symphonies 1-3 / Romanian Rhapsodies 1-2 / Suites

Something closer to an actual review of this Box Set

Martin Selbrede | The Woodlands, Texas | 01/03/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"It's something of a miracle that I even ordered this 4 CD Box Set after reading the only existing review of it on Amazon. In any event, I delayed listening to the music on the presumption that the lone reviewer had something cogent to say about the weaknesses of Enesco's work. Well, lowered expectations or not, this was an exceptionally good album. The 2nd and 3rd symphonies are outstanding works, as are the suites. I have no idea why the 2nd Suite isn't as popular as the first Roumanian Rhapsody, as it's clearly its equal in melodic bite and sass.



So, how well does this Roumanian orchestra play that famous rhapsody? I'm used to the Bernstein and Dorati versions, so this take was surprising in many respects. One must defer to Roumanians in the interpretation of Roumanian music, so in many instances I came to accept this idiomatic version as superior to the previous ones. The exceptions were few and far apart (but the astute listener will realize that Western performance practice has not folded back into Roumania).



No performance on these 4 CDs is anything short of excellent, and there is much exciting, stunningly beautiful music to be discovered here. Virtually no disappointments could be listed. The previous reviewer lists a historic performance circumstance as some kind of evidence that a piece wasn't worth auditioning -- but are we to assume that no great art is ever overlooked? Run through these works of Enesco's and you'll conclude that this IS great music that HAS been overlooked. Even, perhaps, by the previous reviewer.



I will tell you one surprise: I had a hard time discerning any strong Roumanian nationalist flavor in much of the music. The CD booklets shed some light on this: Enesco was a Roumanian attempting to adopt Western aesthetics, not a Western musician on a nationalistic musical jihad. Once grasped, you come to realize that Enesco shouldn't be approached as a strict "nationalist composer," despite his outspoken advocacy for Roumanian musical culture. Accordingly, you can hear eclectic streaks in his works (lots of soaring Straussian lines with matching harmonizations, for example), as befits a master orchestrator with a strong melodic instinct. When you hear an unknown work of Janacek or Martinu, you're prone to think "this sounds kind of Czech," but less than a third of the works in this box set would provoke you to say, "this sounds really Roumanian!" Don't let that scare you away though: since when is it written that music has to be slavishly nationalistic to be great?"

A Solid Set of Consistently Good Music

Todd Montgomery | Wilmore, KY USA | 06/12/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Enescu does not fall into any "category" of composers. He's not a romantic (although much of the early-to middle Enescu appeals to romantic sensibilities), he's not a nationalist (although a couple of the early works express some nationalism), he's not the most modern (that is, he's not ugly for ugly's sake), not an impressionist (although his time in Paris had a very noticeable impact, but like so many others, i.e. Stravinsky, Vaughan Williams, Villa-Lobos, this influence didn't so much make him French or impressionistic as it made him much more himself), but one of the great 20th century composers who forged his own individual style. Don't bother buying individual CD's of Enescu's orchestral music, just go ahead and get the box set; every piece is good!



So why 4 stars? Despite the overall brilliance here, I think there will be better interpretations of some of this music in the future. The complex 2nd symphony needs another serious look by other orchestras, and there are moments when, judging from some of the extremely well-recorded chamber music of Enescu, one can tell that certain details are not played with full conviction. But don't let that stop you from giving this a chance--the music is all great, and this is a reasonably cost-efficient way to get to know it.



The first orchestral suite opens with a movement for strings in unison, followed by a soothing and sentimental second. The final movement has a bit of good-old explosive romantic power, which may remind you a little of Grieg's famous "Peer Gynt."



The two intermezzi are lovely, but you will find the first symphony a much more powerful statement, which should be an immediately satisfying experience for lovers of late-romantic symphonic repertoire.



The Romanian Rhapsodies are the most famous (especially the first) of his works, and are given lively interpretations here. The first is a thrill ride of folk tunes that may have you dancing before the end, and the second is a bit more reflective, but has some beautiful harmonies. These works are the easiest to "get." You can immediately hear the folk influence, and if that is your cup of tea, you might listen to these first.



The 2nd symphony is one of Enescu's more difficult orchestral works, and probably the closest he ever came in style to Shostakovich. It has a few sections of some rather grinding force, but with repeat listening its intricasies become somewhat clearer.



The 3rd symphony, as you might expect, is the greatest in scope and achievement of the three. We might have hoped for something like this from Ravel had he lived longer--you might hear some Ravelian charm as the chorus sings in the 3rd movement in which the interplay between voice and orchestra is a bit like Ravel's 2nd Daphnis et Chloe suite, but in this case the effect has much more magnitude. Enescu's inspiration for this music began with a Dante-esque vision of paradise. Here we have the mature Enescu, writing gorgeous melodies that just keep going, without sentimentality or even nationalism; this is much more universal.



The 2nd and 3rd orchestral suites are also some of his finest works. The 2nd, as the previous reviewer reports, has much in common with the Rhapsodies, and a bit of Baroque inspiration too. The 3rd, the most modern piece on this set, ought to be represented as well as Bartok's concerto for orchestra; it deserves a similar reputation, and should force previous non-believers to ponder how this music has been sidelined for so long. In the later works of Enescu, it gets more difficult to compare them to anything, because he truly formed his own style."